El Misti
- towers above Arequipa at 5,822 M or 19,101
feet. You can't miss it; it dominates the skyline of this town! There
are several options for hiking in its vicinity or climbing to the top.
See our Agency section for a list of agencies that typically offer
climbs of El Misti. A normal climb is 2 to 3 days.
A great acclimatization hike is the trail to Tres Arboles or the "three
trees". This hike round trip will take from 5 to 7 hours. The Tres
Arboles are at about 11,000 feet. In order to get to these you have to
drive towards El Misti and then park or have the Taxi driver drop you
off as close to the trail to the Tres Arboles as possible. There are
actually several trails to get to this area - one of the trails goes
right through the main garbage dump for this side of Arequipa. It is
huge, there will be bad smells, and probably part of it will be burning.
There are people who also live in this area.
The once you leave the garbage dump there will be no more homes and its
just you, the trail and the outdoors and great views of El Misti and
also looking back at Arequipa. The Tres Arboles have in fact spread and
are now probably 20 to 30 Eucalyptus trees growing on a plateau at the
base of the side of El Misti. There is a small altar here with many
candles and its common for hikers to light these candles when they
arrive. Each year there is a large parade of people that makes a daily
pilgrimage to this spot to pray. Its best to start this hike in the
morning as you don't want to hike back at night as parts of the
neighborhoods near the trash dump are a bit dodgy.
El Molino is a site founded in
1785 located about 20 minutes from the center of town. This location
originally used water to power sillar stone wheels to grind wheat.
Essentially this area was a large mill. For reference, sillar is the
very white stone that much of the buildings in Arequipa are constructed
of. Today you can see a small river that runs through the property, the
grinding stones and how the power of water is used in the grinding
process. The entrance fee is approximately 7 soles.
An added bonus is the horse riding which is optional. You can choose to ride from 30
minutes up to several hours. You will ride through nearby villages,
across the local stream and into the hills. Typically you will have a
guide riding the horse along for the ride. 30 minutes of riding starts
at about 15 soles.
La Mansion del Fundador is
located about 30-35 minutes from the center of town. This mansion was
originally the colonial founder of Arequipa's home and its set in a lush
green side valley away from the main part of Arequipa. The valley floor
is well irrigated and quite green, but the side hills are very dry like
the rest of the area surrounding Arequipa. This makes a nice visual
contrast. As of press time, the entrance fee is 10 soles. This mansion
dates from the mid 1500's and by the late 1970's the property was in a
total state of disrepair. A local organization purchased the property
and totally renovated it. Today its a beautiful building with nice
gardens. You can spend up to an hour here.
Mirador de Carmen Alto
is a lookout over what is probably the most green area of Arequipa.
Great views of the River Chili and all the nearby green terraced fields.
Also El Misti looms in the background. Often tour groups will stop here
as its a great photo spot. Admission is free. There are some llamas on
site and you can pet them and take photos with them as well.
Mirador de Yanahuara
is a lookout over the city of Arequipa in the district of Yanahuara.
This is well worth a visit and its free. The classic wide angle pictures of
Arequipa framed by the arches made of sillar are taken here. Lots of
wedding receptions are held here and you may also see a few tour buses
in the area. Great views of El Misti. This is where you will want
someone to take a picture of you if you have a camera! Two good
restaurants in the area are El Cebillano and Sol De Mayo. See
our Restaurant Page for
more info.
Photo to right: Mirador de Yanahuara
Mirador de Sachaca
is tower on the highest hill in the city of Arequipa and is a great
place to visit both at night and during the day. It is located in the Municipality of Sachaca. Admission is 1 sol and you can walk to the top of this tower up 5 or 6 flights of stairs.
In the middle of the flights of stairs there is a white sculpture of
Christ with his arms outstretched. At the top you are rewarded with
excellent 360 degree views of the city.
Sometimes vendors will be hanging around the
parking lot. If you like ice cream try Arequipa's Cheese Ice cream -
often there is a vendor selling this in the parking lot.
Nightclubs
- we visited several during the week. Mistake! They aren't very popular unless you are there on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights and then they usually don't start "hopping" until after 11pm.
The Forum Rock Cafe is a very good nightclub - they have a lookout over the city
near their dance floor. The Deja Vu is also a smaller very nice nightclub located just
down the street from the Forum Rock Cafe on Francisco 319 B. They do
have a 10 sole cover charge on Friday & Saturday nights.
Plaza Del Armas
is the center of Arequipa.
There are several churches and cathedrals worth visiting. One of the largest ones is the main cathedral on the east side of the Plaza de
Armas. The inside is worth visiting and it is very impressive. Many of the materials inside were imported from Europe.
People watching or reading a good book on a bench in Plaza de Armas is a good way to whittle away some time. Often there will be parades or marches on the streets in the Plaza de
Armas and the benches fill up with people on the weekends.
River Rafting
the River Chile just above Arequipa has a
good set of beginning up to class 4+ rapids. It will take about 30 to 40
minutes to get to the end of the dirt road where you will put the raft
in the water. The main part of the river here takes at least an hour to
raft down. There is one section you can stop at and jump off a tall rock
into the middle of the river. Most of the river is surrounded by tall
dirt desert like walls. There are a select number of agencies in
Arequipa that offer rafting on this section of the Chile River. We used
Cusipata
www.cusipata.com; they are very professional,
experienced and their main focus is river rafting. They also offer
guided rafting trips on the Cotahuasi and Apurimac Rivers, but the Chile
River is by far the closest trip to Arequipa.
Shopping is a good way to whittle away the day in Arequipa. There are some nice shops although not as many as you would find in Cuzco. Alpaca & Vicuna clothing is very popular, in fact Arequipa is the hub of Peruvian alpaca trading. One locally well known Alpaca/Vicuna store is
Alpaca 111 - they have several outlet stores in Arequipa and other Peruvian cities. Visit
www.alpaca111.com
for more information.
Another Alpaca clothing store, IncaAlpaca is located at Condor 100 Tahuaycani near the train tracks. Several times a year they have huge sales in which they spread out their clothing onto tables
separated by several pricing categories. These sales are very popular with the locals and you can find some definite bargains on alpaca sweaters.
Saga Falabella is a large department store that started in Chile
but they have stores all over select South American cities including
Arequipa. Think Macy's but a little bit smaller. They are a general
department store, jewelry, clothing, electronics etc. In Arequipa they
are located at: Av. Ejercito 793 Cayma. Phone: (054) 60-6023 Visit:
www.sagafalabella.com To reach their store would be a very long walk
from the main part of town (Plaza de Armas), as their store is located
in the more commercial section of Arequipa. Better to take a taxi to get
here. There are restaurants and other small shops nearby.
Patio del Ekeko is located 1/2 a block from Plaza de Armas in the northerly direction at Mercaderes 141.
It is named after one of the gods of the local
Tiawanacota culture.
The "patio" is a collection of tourist shops
spread out over 5 floors including those that sell alpaca items,
silver jewelry, handicrafts, souvenirs, clothing, and Peruvian chocolate.
There is also a dining optoin here. This is probably the best selection
of Peruvian arts and crafts in one location that you will find in
Arequipa. From any of the shops here, pick up the free Arequipa
Historical Map. It details all the attractions in and around the Plaza
de Armas. For more information visit:
www.patiodelekeko.com
